Piccsnumberoneblue wrote:>>>At most, fighting with like minded people.
This is such a myth. In the 80's I went to a lot of away games. And at nearly every one you had to come up with a cunning plan for your exit from the ground without having the shit kicked out of you. I had a particulalrly testing time at Upton Park in 1981, where it took til seven o'clock to finally round up all the people in our party after being ambushed 200 yards after Upton Park tube station. I was fifteen years old and eight stone ringing wet. I don't remember any of the twenty odd lads chasing me and two other lads down the street if we were 'like minded'. Nobody asked, "Excuse me young fellow me lad, some of my friends and I from the East End were wondering if you would like to settle a score over our different allegiances with a bout of fisticuffs, would you care to partake?" No I remember hearing footsteps running and fucking huge chains rattling about that were presumably intended for wrapping round my napper. Chelsea, Scouse 1 and 2, Cardiff, Leeds were other venues where this choice was not offered. Bizarrely at Millwall I had no problems whatsoever.
But I really don't get this, "you're plain stupid if you take the wife and kids" bit. I'll go to whatever match I see fit, with who I see fit. In modern times it really isn't the same problem, but nevertheless, we can not give in to thugs, hoolies and no marks. I love City, I love going to the game and so does my lad...We're going!
I had to be involved in so many fights in the 70's I wouldn't know where to start but I didn't actually want to be in any of them; I just wanted to watch City. As a young teenage kid, I went down Anfield Rd with scouse blokes on 3 sides kicking me in the back of the head & puching me in the side of the face (none from in front bizarrely enough even though I had no chance-wankers) if I'd gone down I reconed I was probably dead. I just went to watch a football match. The police looked away. There was nothing like-minded about it; I was a kid, they weren't. I had to fight my way back to the coach after the game, through Liverpool & Everton fans whilst being sworn at by middle aged bus drivers etc. Cowardly scum.
It kicked off with the rags every time, always when there were lots more of them than us. Cowardly scum. Most away games it kicked off somewhere, occasionally you got away without seeing any of it.
As a kid I didn't see much honour or glamour in any of it; just survival. A price to pay for the pleasure of seeing City play.It's something that could've been stopped then, yet it's still happening now.